Zinc-furnace



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. G. TESSMER.

ZINC FURNACE.

110.469.10 1. Patented Feb. 16,1892.

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I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IIERMA'NN G. TESSMER, OF PITTSBURG, KANSAS.

ZINC-FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 469,104, dated February 16, 1892.

Application filed August 19, 1890. Serial No. 362,420. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMANN G. TEssMER, of Pittsburg, in the county of Crawford and State of Kansas, hat-e invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Zinc-Furnaces, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates toan improved zincfurnace, the object being to construct a furnace which can be easily handled or manipulated and which will be much more rapid in its work than the furnacesnow in use.

My invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure I is a vertical longitudinal section of my. furnace, taken on line I I, Fig. III. Fig. II is a horizontal longitudinal section taken on line II II, Fig. I. Fig. III is a vertioal transverse section taken on line III III, Fig. II. Fig. IV is an enlarged vertical section of the foot or lower end of one of the re torts, showing both of the valves closed.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a furnace having a fire-box 2, an ash-pit 3, a grate 4, and a chimney or uptake 5, communicating with the furnace through a fine or passage 6.

7 represents the retorts, in which the zinc is vaporized and which pass through the furnace, so that the heat and products of combustion passing'from the fire-box to the chimney or uptake will come in contact therewith to heat and vaporize the zinc in the retorts.

I prefer to use a force-draft to the furnace, which may be done by injecting steam or air into the ash-pit beneath the grate through means of a pipe 8.

It is very desirable that the heat of the furnace be under control, so that the temperature within the furnace can be regulated at will. I accomplish this by means of air-pipes 9, which I prefer to locate along the side of the furnace, as shown in Fig. III, and which would be open at their ends to admit air.

1O representsa number of smaller pipes forming a communication between the pipes 9 and the furnace, the lower ends of the pipes 10 being bent and passed through the wall of the furnace, as shown clearlyin Fig. III. The pipes 10 are provided with valves 11, which may be opened and closed at will to regulate the passage of the air from the pipes 9 into the furnace.

It will be understood that the forced draft of the furnace will cause an inflow of air through the pipes 9 and 10 when the valves 11 are open, and thus the temperature of the fur- 6o nace is fully under control.

I prefer, for convenience, to arrange the retorts in two series, as shown in Fig. II, those of one series being placed opposite the spaces of those of the other series, affording a free circulation of the heat and products of combustion from the furnace and also affording room and opportunity to get at each retort.

It has heretofore been customary in zincfurnaces to arrange the retorts in a position slightly inclined from the horizontal, which makes it very inconvenient both to feed the retorts and to extract or remove the refuse matter. To overcome these difficulties, I arrange my retorts vertically or in an upright position, 7 5 so that they can be easily fed or charged and will be self-delivering. To control the deliv eryand prevent air entering the retorts while discharging, I arrange in the bottom of each retort two valves 12 and 13, which are prefer- 8o ably made in the form of sliding plates, operated by levers 14, pivoted to the retorts at 15 and connected to the valves at 16. WVhen a retort is to be discharged, the upper valve 12 is first opened and the matter allowed to drop into the space 17 between the valves. The valve 12 is then closed and the valve 13 opened, permitting the matter. to bedropped from the retort into a carlS on a track located in a space or passage 19 beneath the retorts. The car is preferably made wide enough so as to receive the deposit from both series of the retorts and is moved along the track until it is beneath the retort being discharged. The foreign matter can thus be allowed to es- 5 cape from the retorts without the possibility of the entrance of air. The retorts are preferably made slightly tapering, smaller toward their upper ends, so as to freely discharge the foreign matter. The upper end of each re- :00 tort is provided with two valves 20 and 21, the valve 20 being placed a short distance be- Wall of the furna'ce,asshown in FigJ-II.

neath the top of the retort and a space 22 being left between the valve 20 and: the valve 21. The valves 20 and 21 are operated by'levers 23 after the manner of the valves 12 and 13. The calarnine and coal are shoveled from a car 24, located on a track situated at the upper end of the furnace, as shown in Fig.

III, into the upper ends of the r'etorts above the valves 20. Then when a fresh charge is to be admitted into any one of the retorts the lever of the valve 20 is first moved to open the valve .and permit the charge to passinto the space 22. The valve 20 is then closed and the valve 21 opened, permitting the chargeto drop into the body of the retort, when the valve 21 will be closed again, ready for another eharge.

My object isto charge the retorts-,- as well as to discharge them, without the possibility of the entrance of air.

Each retort is provided with a condenser 25-, preferably located about midway of the length of the retort. and projecting from the outer surface or side of the retort through the The Vaporsof zinc accumulate in thesespou-ts 25 and. are condensed therein and thecondensed zinc allowed toesca-pe therefrom at suitable thisarrangement of the retorts intervals.

the production of zinc is greatlyfa'cil'itated both as to time and labor.

The retorts as used in my furnace are to be elliptical in shape, as shown in Fig. II, whereby a given amount of heat will affect the largest possible amount of ore, those heretofo're used being round.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of afurnace, the retorts arranged'in the furnace, means for heating said furnace, longitudinal air pipes 9, ar-

; ranged outside of the furnace,bran-ch pipes 10, communicating between the air-pipes 9 and the furnace, and means for regulating the flow of air into the furnace through said 

